I was a state employee and a region president in the public employee's association so I'm fully aware of how employees are thought of as second class citizens. Living in Austin grew to be too expensive for me and I eventually had to leave employment with the state to go into the private sector. When I did so my pay jumped from $35K to $45K and I saw fairly regular raises for several years so it was definitely the right move.
Texas also has a teacher retirement system that severely underfunded. I also saw that no matter how much money was dumped into education that there was only minimal improvement in student performance. I don't blame the teachers though because they get so little support from administrators and the community.
In Texas the legislators retirement package is based upon the amount paid for judges. They are exceedingly willing to fund the salaries of judges because they know that in turn they are also increasing their own retirement packages. I believe that it only takes 12 years to become eligible for retirement as a legislator and they also receive the standard health insurance package that other state employees receive so it is a pretty good deal overall.
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